Freshly Cut Grass
by LadyNobleSong
Summary: A neighbour has developed a particularly grating morning habit, and Kuvira is not in the most merciful of moods. Modern AU.


**A/N: **This was -once more- written solely to amuse my lovely Hatty, who keeps on fuelling my imagination with the best possible prompts. Girl, I love you. I do hope you sweethearts all enjoy this silly little thing as well! Good reading, Wil. x

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

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><p><strong><span>Freshly Cut Grass<span>**

'What in God's name-'

Kuvira groaned under her breath, her voice slightly muffled by the pillow fabric pressed against her lips. She'd barely been awake for a couple minutes, and she was already wincing with pain at the nasty throbbing of her head, which was most certainly mere foreshadowing for an upcoming pounding headache. Wiping a drop of spittle from the corner of her mouth, she blindly reached for her phone on the nightstand, almost knocking over a lamp in the process. The aggressive light of its screen momentarily blinding her, she squinted at the piece of electronics despite herself, only to feel anger rising within her at the sight of the numbers scandalously flashing on screen.

It was barely past noon, and on a Sunday morning at that. What idiot could possibly consider this particular time as adapted to lawn mowing? Repressing another groan, she flung one arm carelessly over her eyes, in a dubious attempt to fall back into the slumber she had just so rudely been torn away from. Yet just as she managed to doze off again, she was startled by something sounding suspiciously like a branch getting stuck between blades, before getting chopped to pieces with the most disagreeable creaking sounds.

Kuvira sighed loudly, pressing her palms against her eyeballs; it was no use attempting to steal a couple more hours of restful sleep now; with her teeth clenched, she dragged herself to a sitting position, taking a few seconds to stretch before springing to her feet. Pulling the thick curtains open, she glared across the wall and straight into her neighbour's garden. A tree was blocking her view, keeping her from distinguishing the figure responsible for her displeasing awakening, yet the loud clattering of the machine left no possible doubt as for who was to blame.

The longer she stared, the angrier Kuvira felt herself grow. Her job was strenuous at best, and Sundays were the only mornings during which she could enjoy a couple extra ours of well-deserved slumber without feeling crushed by guilt. Whoever the person behind the tree was, they had efficiently ruined the young woman's morning, and she would make a point of letting them know precisely all the good she thought of them.

Now fuming inwardly, the black-haired woman yanked her cream-coloured robe from the wall it was suspended to, carelessly wrapping its lapels around her figure, before running downstairs, her tangled curls bouncing around her. She briefly pondered on the possibility of coffee, before deciding against it, as the clamour of the stubborn machine intensified once more. Rubbing her painful temples, Kuvira furiously strode towards the door: she wouldn't stand for this ridiculous business any longer; Sundays, she decided, would not be merciful under her watch.

One instant later, she was facing her neighbour's door, hands firmly rooted onto her hips, waiting for her multiple rings to finally be answered. Seconds passed without any visible result, so Kuvira, whose patience was running thinner by the minute, resulted to a relentless and furious pounding against the door. Eventually, though, the wooden panel was pulled open with a quiet creak.

'What do you even think you're doing?' a deep voice barked at her aggressively, 'Were you trying to knock, or take the entire door down?'

'I wouldn't have had to knock in the first place, hadn't you been so pointedly oblivious to your own doorbell,' Kuvira spat back, without even taking the time to look up at her interlocutor.

'I can't hear the bell from all the way into my garden,' the other woman answered in a weary tone, stepping a little to the side to have a better look at the other woman, mirroring Kuvira's stance from a couple steps above her. 'Now that we're past greetings and civilities, though,' she added with a slight scoff to her voice, raising an eyebrow, 'would you please consider letting me know to what I owe the pleasure?'

Only after these words did Kuvira encompass the appearance of the woman she was facing. She was probably older than her by a couple decades, if she judged from the silver colour of the hair currently sticking to her forehead, and taller than her by a couple inches as well. Kuvira's eyes, however, were rapidly caught by the droplets of sweat shining upon the other woman's bust, then by the toned arms and broad shoulders enhanced by the tank top she was wearing; she swallowed, suddenly rendered unable to tear her eyes away from the woman facing her.

'I- um,' she babbled, cringing at her momentary state of distraction, before tightening her robe against her. She ran a hand through her messy hair, attempting to push it away from her face, only to realise how tangled it still was. 'I-,' she repeated without even quite realising, her composure slowly crumbling as she grew more and more aware of her quickly dissolving anger being progressively replaced by a much more worrying gnawing at the back of her stomach.

'I'm waiting-' the older woman replied, a crooked smirk growing upon her lips. She scratched her chin absentmindedly, drawing Kuvira's attention to the two, long scars barring her right cheek by doing so. There had to be a story behind these, the younger woman thought absentmindedly- one she maybe wouldn't mind hearing, someday.

She shook herself out of her stupor, suddenly looking up and straight into the other woman's eyes. 'I need to speak with you- about your lawn,' she declared, pleasantly surprised at how confident her tone now sounded. 'But I'm actually in the middle of something rather urgent at the moment, so shall I come back in, say- twenty minutes from now?'

'That's fine,' the older woman replied, seemingly just as amused as she was perplexed by the other woman. 'No need to kick my door in this time.'

Kuvira glared back at her, and the latter simply smiled.

'I didn't manage to catch your name, by the way-'

For a moment, Kuvira was tempted not to reply at all, but she somehow still reluctantly turned around.

'I'm Kuvira.'

'Lin Beifong,' the other woman replied, outstretching a hand for Kuvira to shake. Still somehow vexed by her own lack of power within the exchange, the younger woman deliberately ignored Beifong's hand, choosing to sashay her way back to her apartment instead.

Once inside, she suddenly heard the distinctive roar of the lawn-mower starting again, and she rolled her eyes. That Beifong person certainly had some nerve about her. But if she was going to have to confront an admittedly very attractive and infuriating woman and about her despicable morning manners, she would apparently have to do it with style.

…

A dozen minutes later, Kuvira was stepping out of her apartment again, dressed sharply and not a hair out of place. The echo of her polished heels against the pavement only served to increase the feelings of power and confidence currently flowing through her veins; she chose to attribute the adrenaline prickling at her fingertips to the upcoming confrontation, refusing to acknowledge her heart just _might_ be beating a touch faster at the idea of seeing the other woman again.

As she neared the door, she couldn't stop herself from pulling at the lapels of her jacket and readjusting the rim of her pencil skirt one last time. Looking at her reflection in the window of Lin's door, she crooked her eyebrow and smiled, satisfied: she looked just as fearsome as she felt. She knocked.

Once again, the older woman made a point of getting to the door at an unbelievably slow pace. When it opened, though, Kuvira was pleased to realise that, despite her earlier tiredness, her earlier judgment hadn't been clouded in the slightest: Lin Beifong truly was a sight to behold, from her sculpted shoulders to the mischievous gleam in her eyes, she was causing Kuvira's stomach to tingle in the most delicious of ways.

'Here you are again,' Lin remarked calmly.

'Here I am indeed,' Kuvira replied tit for tat, smirking as the older woman shot a brief smile back her way, before balancing her weight to the side slightly and resting her hand onto her hip, noticeably gauging her younger opponent.

'So, what did you need to see me about?'

'Your lawn,' Kuvira replied after a beat, hoping that her ogling at the silver haired woman would come to pass as a merely confrontational action. 'See, not that I don't appreciate or value the devotion you seem to have for your garden; I just wish you would show a little more consideration for your neighbours and, in particular, for the quality ad schedule of their sleeping patterns.'

Lin frowned for a second.

'Are you saying that my mowing the lawn is disturbing your sleep?' she asked dubiously, an unreadable expression plastered upon her face as she took a step closer to Kuvira.

'That's exactly what I'm saying,' Kuvira answered, taking a step closer to Lin in turn- there was only a couple inches separating them from one another, at this point.

Lin stared at Kuvira for a moment, remaining utterly silent. Then, her lips slowly stretched in an irrepressible smirk, and Kuvira could see she was struggling against the urge to guffaw straight at the other woman's face.

'You-' Lin stopped, swallowing her laughter, before straightening her posture, looking back up at Kuvira with the sternest of looks. 'Ma'am,' she deadpanned, and Kuvira felt a shiver run along her spine at the use of the word, 'you're aware that- I mean-' she blabbered on, biting at her bottom lip, before finally blurting out 'I- It _is_ one in the afternoon, Ma'am.'

Kuvira wanted to glare at the other woman, who kept on staring at her with a half apologetic, half amused expression. However, there was something thrilling, even almost enticing, in the way Lin's eyes kept catching hers, somehow causing her palms to grow moist, and her heart to beat just a little faster, whenever it occurred to her just how very pleasant it would be to take one more step towards the infuriating stranger, and finally, _finally_, wipe that smugness off her face with a bruising kiss.

She smiled, leaning ever so slightly towards the other woman –and not missing the way Lin's chest rose a touch higher as she did.

'I do see your point, truly,' Kuvira said in a caressing tone, boldly reaching out to squeeze Lin's arm gently. It was now the latter's turn to look flustered, and the dark-haired woman gloated internally as she noticed the slight flush appearing upon Lin Beifong's cheeks. 'Caring for your lawn is obviously very important to you,' she added, and it somehow felt as if she was breathing the words straight against Lin's earlobe, although they were still standing a couple inches apart.

Despite her efforts to disguise it, Lin's breath noticeably hitched in her throat, and Kuvira smirked; for as much effect as the older woman obviously had on her, it seemed that her own physical proximity was also far from leaving the latter completely unaffected. When Lin's tongue darted out for a split second to nervously moisten her lips, Kuvira decided to push her luck a little further still. Even if the entire scheme ended up backfiring on her, the older woman would probably feel too embarrassed to risk another encounter with her anyway, and therefore would be forced to reschedule her mowing sessions; in both cases, Kuvira would eventually triumph.

'But I was wondering if you would mind discussing the matter with me for a couple minutes, nonetheless.'

When Lin didn't reply, silently prompting Kuvira to continue, the latter took a deep breath before taking another step towards Lin, looking straight at her, a smirk on her lips.

'For example,' she continued calmly, 'have you already considered these?'

Suddenly grabbing at the lapels of what had been her favourite shirt, she roughly yanked it open in front of Lin, delighted when she witnessed the older woman's eyes growing wider all of a sudden, her cheeks also taking on a distinctively crimson tint. She could hear barely hear the tiny buttons bounce down the steps, due to Beifong's suddenly strangled breathing. Neither of the moved for a while, as Kuvira revelled in the unadulterated lust shimmering within the older woman's darkening eyes.

Once Lin eventually succeeded in tearing her gaze away from the enticing display of skin and lace before her, she met Kuvira's eyes, pushing the door open a little wider.

'Would you-' she began, obviously struggling with getting her words out, 'Would you care to come inside to discuss this further? Can I maybe interest you in some tea?'

'I would love some Jasmine,' Kuvira replied maliciously as she stepped inside the house right after Lin, her ripped shirt now floating behind her. She was however cut short as soon as the door slammed shut, by the delightfully exhilarating feeling of Lin's lips hungrily pressing against hers.

They never even made it past the kitchen, and the remaining half of Lin's lawn remained untouched for the rest of the day.


End file.
